With continued calls for increased defence spending — despite levels at an all-time high — investment in governance institutions and initiatives may take a hit. Robert Greenhill and Marina Sharpe explain why they are just as key to global security.

In this podcast, host Bessma Momani speaks with former diplomat Ferry de Kerckhov and StrategyCorp vice presidentGarry Keller about the value of diplomacy-by-tweet. This is the second episode in a new podcast series on Canadian foreign affairs. It is produced through a partnership between OpenCanada.org and The Balsillie School of International Affairs.

Deadline extended to August 31:We’re inviting junior scholars in Canadato submit a short essay explaining future defence and security challenges forCanada— what are they and how should they be tackled? Five finalistswill be invitedto join a new defence network for a few days in Waterloo before presenting their ideas at the Canadian Defence Association Institute’s Graduate Student Symposium in Kingston.Read the full details here.

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With its economy in ruins, Venezuela has been brought to its knees — and there is no relief in sight for the millions affected. For the BBC, Katy Watson reports from the Simón Bolívar International Bridge, where countless Venezuelans cross into Colombia every day, searching desperately for medical attention that is nowhere to be found at home.

In The Atlantic, former AFP Kabul bureau chief Anuj Chopra pens a moving tribute to the colleagues he lost this year to Afghanistan's violence. "Only a few global-news organizations remain invested in reporting from Afghanistan," he writes. "We are the last remaining hurdle to the war becoming what it must never be — forgotten. For that reason, our fallen colleagues deserve to be celebrated."